Preventing Hantavirus & Cleaning Up After A Mouse | Rodent Infestation

Identifying A Mouse | Rodent Infestation

Remember that not all types of rodents carry hantavirus.  Neither common house mice nor common rats have been associated with HPS in humans, for example.   Yet because it can be tough to tell just what kind of rodents you have, play it safe — clean up the infestation and rodent-proof your home or workplace.

Hantaviruses are a group of viruses that may be carried by some rodents.  Some hantaviruses can cause a rare but deadly disease called hantavirus pulmonary syndrome.  The disease is called HPS for short.

What animals can give people hantaviruses?

Size of Deer Mouse and White-footed Mouse Droppings Compared with the Droppings of Other Household Pests: Close to Actual Size

Only some kinds of mice and rats can give people hantaviruses that cause HPS.  In North America, they are the deer mouse, the white-footed mouse, the rice rat, and the cotton rat.  However, not every deer mouse, white-footed mouse, rice rat, or cotton rat carries a hantavirus. Other rodents, such as house mice, roof rats, and Norway rats, have never been known to give people HPS.  Since it is hard to tell if a mouse or a rat carries a hantavirus, it is best to avoid all wild mice and rats and to safely clean up any rodent urine, droppings, or nests in your home. Dogs and cats cannot give people hantavirus infections.

These are some of the mice and rats that can carry hantaviruses in the United States

Cotton Rat

Deere Mouse

The last thing anyone wants to see crawling through their home is a mouse.  These pests seem to be able to enter your home through virtually any crack or space, needing only a hole the size of a small marble.  Once you see these pests, it is important to handle the problem.  Contact a local pest control professional at the first sign of a rodent infestation to handle the problem immediately.

Do You Think You Have A Mouse | Rodent Infestation In Your Home?

Common Signs Of Mouse | Rodent Infestation

Do you think you have rodents infesting your home, barn or workplace, but aren’t sure?  Here are some common signs that you may have a rodent problem.

You see rodent droppings.  This is one of the most reliable signs that you have a rodent problem.   You may find droppings in places where you store your food or your pet/animal food, such as in cupboards and drawers or in bins.  Because mice like to run in places that offer them some protection from predators, you may find droppings in cupboards or under the sink, along walls, or on top of wall studs or beams.  Mice will leave droppings near their nests as well (see below).  Storage rooms, sheds, barns, or cabins loaded with boxes, bags, old furniture, and other objects make an ideal home for rodents, so you may find droppings there, even inside boxes and other containers.

Workplaces can also make good rodent homes.  Warehouses, restaurants, and the like are obvious places to look because food may be plentiful there.  However, rodents can infest office buildings, too.  Once again, look for droppings in protected places like closets, storage rooms, or inside boxes.

Part 2: Do You Think You Have A Mouse | Rodent Infestation In Your Home?

Want to know what droppings look like?

You see signs of rodent nests.  Rodents tend to build their nests from materials that are soft, fuzzy, or warm.  Among common rodent nest materials are shredded paper, bunches of dry grass or small twigs, fabric, and furniture stuffing.  Rodents will nest wherever safety from enemies can be found close enough to food and water, and they prefer places that are relatively quiet.  Inside buildings, here are some places to look:

• inside cabinets
• under or inside dressers
• in and among boxes
• behind and inside machinery and appliances (kitchen appliances such as stoves or refrigerator drip pans; water coolers; and electric motor cases or computer cases)
• inside upholstered furniture
• inside double walls or the space between floors and ceilings
• You find food boxes, containers, or food itself that appears to be nibbled.  Look for droppings nearby.  Rodents can chew through plastic, so plastic bags do not make safe food storage containers.
• You find signs of rodent “feeding stations.”  These are semi-hidden spots where rodents eat food they have collected.  At these stations, rodents may leave larger-than-normal amounts of droppings/urine, plus remnants of a variety of foods (such as nut shells), bits of plastic or paper, and cockroach carcasses.
• You find evidence of gnawing.  To get to food, rodents will gnaw on almost anything that is softer than the enamel of their teeth.  This includes such things as wood, paper board, cloth sacks, and materials even harder than these.  Because rodents’ teeth grow continuously, they must gnaw to keep them short.  That may help to explain why chair legs or similar surfaces show gnawed spots or tooth marks in rodent-infested places.
• You notice an odd, stale smell.  In closed-up rooms infested by rodents, you will commonly smell an unusual, musky odor.

You see a mouse in your house.  However, this doesn’t happen very frequently!   Why?  Rodents are normally active at night, and generally avoid humans.   If you have rodents, unless the infestation is large, you may never see one.

Bats In Your House?

Bats are truly wonders of nature.  They represent the only flying mammals (flying squirrels glide but cannot fly).  The sonic, directional, object detection ability not only serves them well while flying, but it was studied as a part of various research projects during the development of radar and sonar.  Bat species in Minnesota are primarily insectivores.

Bats breed but once a year and depending on the species, females deliver one or two pups.  By early August the young are flying along with the adults, but, until then, they are confined to the roost while the adult females fly in and out to hunt and feed their young.  Males live separately from females until the fall migration when the sexes mingle and spend the winter together at their hibernation sites.

Only two species of bats the Big Brown Bat (Eptesicus fuscus) and the Little Brown Bat (Myotis lucifugus) are any threat to man.  Individuals from these species will enter houses in the spring and fall.  During the spring where attic and eve temperatures hover between 90 and 103 degrees F, female little brown bats can use the areas as nurseries for raising their young.  Big brown bats prefer slightly cooler locations for their nurseries.  Also big brown bats can tolerate much colder winter temperatures and are active later into the fall than are the little browns.  Both species, however, require fairly constant temperature and humidity during the hibernation period. Little browns are likely to hibernate in caves where the temperatures stay above freezing.  Big brown often successfully hibernate in attics, eve areas, abandoned bird houses, etc. where temperatures may fall to below 0 degrees F.

Both species of bats can enter very small openings.  Any circular opening the diameter of a nickel will allow their passage.  It is more common for them to enter buildings via more accessible routes such as broken attic windows, unprotected roof/gable vents, along side exterior masonry chimneys, sprung corners on eves, where dormers meet the main roof, etc.

If your house is currently under attack by bats it is wise to call a professional.  It is very important that proper inspection techniques and execusion methods be utilized.  If not, you could end up with numerous adult and/or young bats being closed in your walls, eves, or attic, causing a large sanitation problem from dead bats or even having bats come out into your house with you and your family.

Source: www.extension.umn.edu

Mice Management and Exclusion

Mouse Control | Exclusion

The house mouse (Mus musculus) is one of the most troublesome and economically important rodents in the United States.  House mice thrive under a variety of conditions; they are found in and around homes and commercial structures as well as in open fields and agricultural lands.  House mice consume and contaminate food meant for humans, pets, livestock, or other animals.  In addition, they cause considerable damage to structures and property, and they can transmit pathogens that cause diseases such as salmonellosis, a form of food poisoning.

Although house mice usually prefer to eat cereal grains, they are “nibblers” and will sample many different foods.  Mice have keen senses of taste, hearing, smell, and touch.  They are excellent climbers and can run up any rough vertical surface.  They will run horizontally along wire cables or ropes and can jump up to 12 inches from the floor onto a flat surface.  Mice can squeeze through openings slightly larger than 1/4 inch across.  House mice frequently find their way into homes in the fall of the year, when outdoor temperatures at night become colder.

In a single year, a female may have 5 to 10 litters of about 5 or 6 young.  Young are born 19 to 21 days after mating, and they reach reproductive maturity in 6 to 10 weeks.  The life span of a mouse is probably 9 to 12 months.

MANAGEMENT

Because house mice are so small, they can gain entry into homes and other buildings much more easily than rats.  As a result, house mouse infestations are probably 10 to 20 times more common than rat infestations.  Effective control involves sanitation, exclusion, and population reduction. Sanitation and exclusion are preventive measures.  When a mouse infestation already exists, some form of population reduction such as trapping or baiting is almost always necessary.

A key to successful long-term mouse control is the limitation of shelter and of food sources wherever possible.  Trapping works well when mice are not numerous, or it can be used as a follow-up measure after a baiting program.  When considering a baiting program, decide if the presence of dead mice will cause an odor or sanitation problem.  If so, trapping may be the best approach.  Removal of mice should be followed by taking steps to exclude them so that the problem does not recur.

Exclusion

Exclusion is the most successful and permanent form of house mouse control.  “Build them out” by eliminating all gaps and openings larger than ¼ inch, through which mice will enter a structure.  Steel wool makes a good temporary plug.  Seal cracks in building foundations and around openings for water pipes, vents, and utility cables with metal or concrete.  Doors, windows, and screens should fit tightly.  It may be necessary to cover the edges of doors and windows with metal to prevent gnawing.  Plastic screening, rubber or vinyl, insulating foam, wood, and other gnawable materials are unsuitable for plugging holes used by mice.

Remove Mice From Your Home

Humane Removal Of Mice | Minnesota

The last thing anyone wants to see crawling through their home is a mouse.  These pests seem to be able to enter your home through virtually any crack or space, needing only a hole the size of a small marble.  Once you see these pests it is important to handle the problem immediately.

Where there are mice, chances are damage will follow.  Able to live off almost any food and with little water, unless removed by physical means these rodents will be persistent.  Examples of possible damage are structural damage, damage to your wiring, A/C units, furnaces, attics, insulation, with possible electrical fires, along with potential diseases and parasites.  The most common is salmonella (food poisoning) and ring worms.

Once mice become a problem they can be extremely hard to get rid of. If in a home for a good period of time, a large amount of mice may be living in your attic, foundation or walls without home owners being aware of their presents or damage that is being done.  Also, as said earlier they can live off almost nothing!

If you have a mice infestation, hiring a Minnesota Wild Animal Management Expert is your best bet in getting rid of these rodents once and for all.  They have well established techniques and are well experienced in dealing with these pests.  Not only will they control the animals’ population in your home, they can also ensure they will not come back through proper sealing and guarding of entry points.

Minnesota Bat Bugs & Bat Removal

Bat Bugs & Bat Guano Removal

Bat bugs are parasites that live and feed on the native bats in our area.  Similar to the way that fleas live and feed on dogs.  Bat bugs are very similar to bed bugs and it takes a very trained eye and a microscope to tell them apart.  We typically find bat bugs in attics and other areas where large colonies of bats reside.  A large pile of bat guano under a bat roost in an attic will usually be crawling with bat bugs.  When you shine a flashlight on the pile of bat guano, it looks as if it’s alive and moving from all the bugs crawling through it.  Bat bugs are bloodsucking insects and usually feed on the blood from bats.  However if bats are not available they will attach themselves to other animals including humans.

Bat Bug Infestation

Bat bug infestations must be handled very carefully to avoid disastrous problems.  If bats are excluded from an attic and the bat bugs are left behind.  They will often drop down into the living space of the house while looking for a new host.  In this situation the homeowner ends up with hundreds (if not thousands) of bed bugs crawling throughout their home.  In some cases it can be more difficult to get rid of the bat bugs than the bats. ALWAYS bring in a professional pest control company that has experience in eliminating bat bugs when you have this type of problem.

If you have a severe bat infestation or you are encountering bat bugs in your home or attic, it is very important that proper inspection techniques and exclusion methods be utilized.  Call a professional today!

Damage Repair

After the bats have been removed and  the area has been cleaned and the exclusion work is complete, the next step is to repair the damage that was caused.